This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Lessons Learned from Biosphere 2: When Viewed as a Ground Simulation/Analog for Long Duration Human Space Exploration and Settlement
Technical Paper
2004-01-2473
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
President Bush’s recent announcement of the Exploration Initiative dictates manned bases on the Moon and eventually Mars. A ground swell of credible privately funded space projects is also reaffirming the notion that was for a time taken for granted but in recent years has seemed further and further from being realized – that humans will live permanently in space.
A human mission to Mars, or a base on the Moon or Mars is a lengthier more complex mission than any space endeavor undertaken to date. Simulation Based Acquisition is a fundamental part of preparing for such a mission. Ground simulations provide a relevant, analogous environment for testing technologies and learning how to manage complex, long duration missions, while addressing inherent mission risks.
Multiphase human missions and settlements with limited opportunities for immediate return to Earth should a problem occur, require high fidelity, end-to-end, full mission duration tests in order to evaluate a system’s ability to sustain the crew for the entire mission and return them safely to Earth. Moreover, abort scenarios are essentially precluded in many mission scenarios, though certain risks may only become evident late in the mission. Aging and compounding effects cannot be simulated through accelerated tests for all aspects of the mission.
Until such high fidelity long duration simulations are available, and in order to help prepare those simulations and mission designs, it is important to extract as many lessons as possible from analogous environments. Biosphere 2 is a three-acre materially closed ecological system that supported eight crewmembers with food, air and water in a sunlight driven bioregenerative system for two years. It was designed for research applicable to environmental management on Earth and the development of human life support for space. Although the two-year mission of Biosphere 2 was completed ten years ago, it is quite possibly the best analog for a long duration space mission that has been conducted and warrants reexamination in light of NASA’s new direction.
A brief overview of the two-year Biosphere 2 mission is presented, followed by select data and lessons learned that are applicable to the design and operation of a long duration human space mission, settlement or test bed. These lessons include technical, programmatic, and psychological issues.
Authors
Topic
Citation
MacCallum, T., Poynter, J., and Bearden, D., "Lessons Learned from Biosphere 2: When Viewed as a Ground Simulation/Analog for Long Duration Human Space Exploration and Settlement," SAE Technical Paper 2004-01-2473, 2004, https://doi.org/10.4271/2004-01-2473.Also In
References
- Alling, A. Nelson, M 1993 Life Under Glass: the inside story of Biosphere 2 Arizona The Biosphere Press
- Bechtel, R. B. MacCallum, T. K. Poynter, J. E. Environmental Psychology and Biosphere 2 Presented at the Environmental Design and Research Association meeting March 1994
- Leigh, L. S. 1993 Linda’s Journal – Oxygen Biosphere 2 Newsletter
- Nelson, M. Silverstone, S. Poynter, J 1993 Biosphere 2 Agriculture: Test Bed for Intensive, Sustainable, Non-Polluting Farming System Outlook on Agriculture 22 167 174
- Poynter, J Bearden, D Biosphere 2: A Closed Bioregenerative Life Support System, An Analog for Long Duration Space Mission, Plant Production in Closed Ecosystems Kluwer Academic Publishers 263 277 1997
- Pierce, C. M. 1991 Theoretical approaches to adaptation to Antarctica and space Harrison A. A. Clearwater Y. A. McKay C. P. From Antarctica to outer space: life in isolation and confinement New York Springer-Verlag
- Severinghaus, J. P. Broeker, W. S. Dempster, W. F. MacCallum, T. K. Wahlen, M 1994 Oxygen Loss in Biosphere 2 EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 75 3
- Walford, R. L. Bechtel R. MacCallum T. Paglia D. E. Weber L. J. 1996 “Biospheric Medicine” as Viewed from the Two-Year First Closure of Biosphere 2 Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 67 7
- Walford, R. L. Harris, S. B. Gunion, M. W. 1992 The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in human Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 89 11533 11537